Winchester Surprise

Chapter 15 Photographs and a Game of 20 Questions...Sort of

A tinkling sound was the thing that woke Sam the next morning. For a second he forgot where he was then the events of the night before came rushing back to him. He sat up on the sofa bed searching for the source of the sound. He took in the apartment in the daylight. He hadn't noticed the plants before. So many different kinds of plants covered the windowsills and a few sat on the coffee table. Not that Sam knew anything about plants but all looked healthy and well cared for. He spotted the source of the sound. Dani was in front of the stove mixing something in a glass jug. Miracle sat next to her staring up at her waiting for her to drop any little tidbit of food that he could snatch up. A sizzling came from the pan as she poured the pancake batter. She smiled turning to look down at the dog.

"You want the first one?" She asked quietly. She spotted Sam watching her. "Hey."

"Morning."

"You sleep alright? Jason told me the middle's kinda lumpy. I've been meaning to replace it."

"Yeah fine."

Dani nodded. She turned back to the stove.

"Want some pancakes?"

"Sure."

Dani slid the last pancake onto the stack. She picked up the plate and placed it down on the small square dining table that sat against the wall behind the couch. Sam climbed out of bed sitting down at the table across from her. Other than the occasional scrape of mettle against the plates they ate in painful silence, both not knowing what to say to one another. Dani finished her food first.

"Do you have any photos of him?"

"Of Dean?"

Dani nodded her eyes dropping to the empty plate in front of her.

"If it's alright can I see some? It's just something I've always wondered about you know." 

"Yeah, yeah just a second."

Sam got up from the table and walked out of the apartment. Dani looked down at Miricle.

"It's a little awkward at the moment isn't it?" She asked him. The dog rested its head on her lap. She rubbed his ears as he leaned into her hand. A minute or so later the door opened. Sam had a brown leather journal tucked under his arm that he had collected from the impala. He sat back down at the table and undid the clasp. From the inside sleeve, he pulled out some well-loved photos. He smiled down at them for a moment before sliding them across the table to Dani. She took a second to build up the confidence to look down at them. She recognised Sam in the first photo on the small pile. He was standing to the right of an older looking man wearing a baseball cap. Sam's hand slipped into view pointing to the man on the other side of the baseball cap clad man.

"That's your Dad." He said gently. It felt odd to hear that. She had a dad, well sort of. Well, she always had one she wouldn't exist without one but she could point at a photo now and say that that was her father.

Dean's face was stoic as all the men's were. His hair was spiked into a semi-messy quaff. Dani was shocked to find that his features were fairly similar to her own only hers were slightly softer. Her hand drifted up to her nose trying to compare them without the help of a mirror. The bridges of their noses were the same though the origin of the end of her nose was still a mystery.

"You've got his chin too," Sam said. He had been watching her every move since he'd handed her the photos. "Your eye shape's sort of similar." Sam gently took the photo from her holding it up beside her face. Dani felt odd under his gaze like she didn't know whether to smile or keep a straight face. She ended up cringing. She looked down at the next photo in the pile and smiled. The photo captured Sam and Dean mid-laugh, wide infectious smiles plastered their faces. Sam was turned to face his brother as if watching for a reaction he looked a lot younger.

"My God, you were a fetus," Dani exclaimed. She pulled the photograph closer to her face. "And I love that jacket." She said looking down at Dean. Sam smiled. He reached over and pulled one of the smaller pictures from the pile. "That's your grandparents John and Mary." He held it out to her.

"She's pretty. Dean looks a lot like her." Dani said holding the photo in her hand next to the one in his.

"Yeah, I guess he does." Did. Sam thought. He watched her as she meticulously made her way through the pile giving each picture her unwavering attention and pulling them closer to her face to try and spot every detail in each one.

"Who's the man between you in this one." She held up the first photo again.

"That's Bobby. He was like a dad to us well our version of him anyway."

She raised a questioning brow.

"It's a long story." He waved off. "He's gone now."

Dani nodded offering a silent "O" in return.

"Can I ask you some stuff?" Dani asked still half distracted looking through the photos for seemingly the tenth time, not that Sam minded.

"Sure. Can I ask you some stuff too?"

"Okay. So like a game of twenty questions...sort of but we take turns."

"Sounds good."

-ˋˏ ༻❁༺ ˎˊ-

The rest of their morning was spent learning about each other. The two decided to head out to the nearest park to let Miricle have a runaround and to take care of business. They settled themselves on a bench by a large oke tree the sun was filtered out by its large branches. They started with some pretty light questions like, What food they liked? Or what their favourite colours were? The questions slowly got a little deeper the longer they sat there with Dani learning about some of Sam and Dean's exploits.

"So you've saved the world that many times?!" She gasped in awe.

"Yep, and none of it was fun, trust me." Sam let out a self-deprecating laugh. "So I have a confession to make." Dani turned her attention to him. "I may have looked into you before I found out who you were."

"And what did you find?" She asked knowingly.

"Your adoption papers and that lead me to the police report from when you were found."

"Ah."

"I'm so sorry that happened to you, Dani."

"I don't remember it. It's not a big deal. I mean unless you count the abandonment issues then maybe it's a little bit of a big deal."

"You deserve better."

"I know." It almost shocked him how certainly she said that. He obviously showed the shock on his face because she smirked a little. "It's not in a conceited way or anything I just know my worth and I know I deserve better than that." 

Pride rose in Sam's chest he didn't understand why, he didn't have much right to be proud, he had only known her for about a week in all but he was proud of her. Maybe it was because Dean had never been able to see his worth. Dani being able to see it for herself almost made up for it in some small way.

"How are you only twenty-one? Not many people can see that at that age, or any age."

Dani just shrugged in reply. A soft breeze rattled the branches above them as they fell into thoughtful silence.

"It is your turn. What's your question?" She asked her eyes following the sandy dog as he lolloped about in the grass.

"The theatre kid thing. Do you still do it?" He asked.

"Not really. Not since mom died. I still help out the theatre group but I've not been in a show for a few years. It's just not the same without her in the front row you know." Her voice wavered a little at the end. "I still love it though, that's not gone away."

"Would you ever consider trying again?"

"Maybe." She trailed off into thought. "How did Dean die? You said on a hunt. What happened? If you're okay to talk about it you totally don't have to if it's something tha-"

"No it's alright, well it's not alright but...I can talk about it. We went on a Vamp hunt. They had taken a couple of kids. We saved them but at some point during the fight Dean...he got pushed and he uh...he got pushed onto a nail." Sam felt a warm hand wrap around his. He hadn't noticed the tears that had trickled down his face. He looked at Dani. Her eyes were gentle as she watched him a few stray tears falling from her eyes too. "We had time to say goodbye. I stayed with him till he went." Sam used his free hand to wipe his face. Dani didn't say anything she just squeezed his hand reassuringly. It was the first time Sam had been able to talk about what happened. All he had told anyone else was that Dean had died on a hunt nothing more. It felt good to have been able to say it out loud. With Daniella sitting next to him he felt like he had gotten a little piece of Dean back. He offered her a sad smile which she returned.

AN: Sorry this part took a little while I've had some mean writer's block. I didn't have any solid plans past the last part so it's been a little harder to write. Thanks for hanging in there.

Write soon.

P.S I love comments so let me know what you think.

Meg ❤️💋💙